U.S. DRUG LAWS THREATEN PUBLIC HEALTH

WASHINGTON -- The current and previous presidents of the United States used
marijuana. So has presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted to drug use. Conservative radio
talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who once beat the drums for jailing white
junkies, has been through drug treatment.

Some 75,000 Californians now use marijuana under a doctor's care. The U.S.
Supreme Court let stand an appellate court ruling barring Uncle Sam from
punishing doctors who prescribe medical marijuana under state law.

A federal district court in California has allowed defendants to introduce
evidence that they were growing marijuana for medical purposes. San
Francisco is considering creating nonprofit marijuana cooperatives.

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, a Republican, signed legislation slashing
punishment for medical use of marijuana. Connecticut is moving to legalize
medical pot. Republican legislator Angelo Saviano has proposed that
Illinois do the same. After surviving a bout with prostate cancer, New York
State Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno says that he may support a
similar measure.

A state court recently affirmed the constitutional right of Alaskans to
grow marijuana at home. Alaskans will vote this year on an initiative to
legalize personal pot use.

The Netherlands allows personal possession and cannabis coffee shops. Spain
no longer arrests recreational users; Portugal and Luxembourg have
decriminalized marijuana consumption. Belgium permits medical use of
marijuana and is considering allowing citizens to grow small amounts of
pot. Local authorities in France and Germany decide whether to arrest
cannabis users.

In Britain most pot users are now warned rather than arrested. A police
chief has called for legalizing heroin. The British Department of Health is
nearing final approval of a marijuana inhaler for medical purposes.
Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland all are debating relaxing their
marijuana laws. Canada provides marijuana through its health-care program,
plans to make pot available in pharmacies and has proposed decriminalizing
pot consumption.

Venezuela is decriminalizing drug possession. Top Brazilian officials have
recommended doing the same. A joint select committee in Jamaica has
recommended decriminalization.

Why toss pot smokers in jail while tolerating use of alcohol and
cigarettes? People should abstain from all of them, but they should not be
imprisoned if they do not.

Some of Limbaugh's conservative defenders argued that an addiction arising
from an illness deserved special dispensation. If so, people using
marijuana as medicine also warrant compassionate treatment. For instance,
Angel McClary Raich of Oakland, Calif., smokes marijuana to combat nausea
resulting from her treatment for brain cancer. "The alternatives have been
ineffective or result in intolerable side effects," says her physician, Dr.
Frank Lucido.

Teddy Hiteman of Henderson, Nevada, suffers from multiple sclerosis.
"Medicinal pot has been a godsend," she says.

Michael Ferrucci of Livermore, Calif., has lung and testicular cancer.
Marijuana "has been far more beneficial to me than other medications they
have recommended to me," he says.

The American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs has reported
that "anecdotal, survey and clinical data" demonstrate marijuana's medical
usefulness. The National Institutes of Health stated that "Marijuana looks
promising enough to recommend that there be new controlled studies done."
Groups ranging from the American Cancer Society to Kaiser Permanente
support access to or research on medical marijuana.

In one survey, more than 70 percent of American cancer specialists said
they would prescribe marijuana if it was legal. A poll of the British
Medical Association yielded similar results.

The New England Journal of Medicine has backed access to medical marijuana.
Last year Lancet Neurology pointed out that marijuana had proved effective
against pain in lab tests and could become "the aspirin of the 21st
Century." A recent issue of Brain journal reported: "cannabis may also slow
down the neuro-degenerative processes that ultimately lead to chronic
disability in multiple sclerosis and probably other diseases."

Allowing the medical use of marijuana does not prevent the government from
punishing recreational users. The General Accounting Office concluded "that
medical marijuana laws have had little impact on their law enforcement
activities."

Candidate George W. Bush said "I believe each state can choose" what to do
about medical marijuana. But under President Bush, reports Dean Murphy of
the New York Times: "Federal agents have raided farms where medicinal
marijuana is grown, closed cooperatives where it is distributed and
threatened to punish doctors who discussed it with their patients." Sadly,
drug warriors are more interested in punishing drug users who threaten no
one than in aiding the sick and dying.

The U.S. drug war has failed: America's drug laws pose a far greater threat
to public health and safety than does drug abuse. Drug use should be
treated as a medical and moral issue, not a criminal one.